Instructions

A really intuitive application probably doesn't need instructions, so you can just press the button now, or you can read the instructions below first.

Changes (as of March 21, 1997)

Components

The areas labelled p and q are polynomial input areas. Enter polynomials as follows: x^4-3x^2+5x-1. Extra spaces, tabs, carriage returns, etc are ignored. The variable (indeterminate) can be any alphabetic symbol or string.

The area labelled k is used when the p^k button is pushed. An integer (usually positive) should be entered.

Coefficients

All calculations are carried out using the coefficient ring specified in the Coefficients panel in the lower right corner. The coefficients can be integers, rational numbers, or elements of the integers mod n. For the last choice, a value for n must also be entered. The default is to use integer coefficients. Rational numbers can be written in the form 3/5, or just -7.

Operations

Most of the various operation buttons are self-explanatory. Some of them, such as r->p, move polynomials between the various fields. This can be useful if you're doing a series of computations. The p and q buttons display the polynomial in the r (answer) field, using the current coefficients.

The p(q) button treats p as the definition of a function and evaluates that function at q. This can be used to compute numerical values (within the given coefficient ring), or to perform substitutions in p.

Restarting the Calculator

If you wish to restart the calculator after closing it, press the button again. The calculator reappears just as you left it.

Parameters

Here is a list of all the parameters for the calculator applet and their default values. The input area size may appear to be different than the numbers of rows or columns requested, due to differences between browsers. If the input areas are too small, use larger values for the rows and cols parameters.

The possible fonts depend on the platform, but usually include TimesRoman, Helvetica, Courier and Dialog. The possible font styles are bold, italic, plain or any combination of these styles.


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